* A La Mode *

I'm almost at 4 weeks now using the Litter Genie. After the learning curve on how to set it up, I find it very easy to use. We only change the bag once a week if the other two of my three cat household use the basement pans. The best part is if you have one cat and the bag is not entirely filled you are able to cut the bag to the custom size. The Litter Genie would be great for others like me that have a pan in the bathroom. It would be awesome if you live in an apartment. It has been wonderful to be without that smell used kitty litter odor in the bathroom.

Well, we have used our Litter Genie for two plus weeks. I love the thickness of the plastic bag. I have carried it through the house with one handed on trash night. It is so easy to use the built in cutter. I did find I have some extra twist ties to close off the top of the bag after I cut it. They came in handy as I released the handle lock to open the trap door to pull more of the bag down. I have no far of dirt litter everywhere with the trist ties. I have gotten good at tying the knot in the end of the bag. I need to get better on how much of a the bag is left in the bottom of the bag. Puttin the correct lenght of bag in the bottom of the unit is a work in progress. The first time was way too much. But the last time was too little. Too much was better than too litter. I did run into a problem. Brownie the pee monster, helped fill up the container fast before I knew when to change the bag out. I was not watching how much was in the bottom and when to cut a new bag. I ended up with pee clumps stuck in the top and no more shace in the bottom until I cut a new bag. That was my bad. Live and Learn. I'm giving it 4 paws out of 5 for the usage.

I still wish the unit was 3 inches shorter. It is a very tight fit next to my toliet. And I can see in the end I'll have to getting one of those Lysol wipes to open the door to change the bag cartage.

(This is Brownie's Mommy again.) Say goodbye to that yucky grocery bag in the bathroom trash can with used cat litter. Say goodbye to the odor too. I'm getting back my bathroom trash can.

It was like Christmas day to open the Petco.com box. I sat on the floor. I peeled off the label from the Litter Genie. Every present has to be wrapped you know. Then the fun of opening all the little doors. Very nicely hinged too. Inside the middle one I found all the good stuff, the bag cartridge, a pooper scooper, a scoop holder & the oh so important "The Instructions". Mind you, I'm getting older. This year I started to wear glasses, bifocals. But for some reason, I was too excited & I did not put them on. I looked at the instructions. I wished the pictures were a little bigger on the purple background. Maybe white would have been a better choice. They looked straight forward enough. I pulled off the band from the bag cartridge as shown. Then I started to pick at the "bag", so it was a continues tube. I pulled up and held the cartridge with the other hand. Now I could see how it worked. The picture showed to open the grey cartridge trap door. But mine was very tight. I started to pray, please don't break, please don't break. So it opened. Back to the pictures. Boy, I wish I'd got my glasses. I figure out how the send the bag tube down the chute passed the trap door. I pulled the grey handle on the trap door with the center door opened like a clam. I grabbed the bag & pulled it through the trap door chamber. Now since it was my first time, I'm going this better on the next cartridge. Next time, I'll pull more of the bag out when I send it down the chute. So it told me to put a knot in the end of the bag. I did & I carefully work the knot to the end & then pulled it tight. With all the doors closed, I stood it up. I looked at the scoop & holder. I saw that the holder could be attached to the right side or the left side. Wow, that was well thought out. I was not sure which side would work in our tiny bathroom. So I carried it into the bathroom like it was a paper bag of groceries. The little bell had not gone off yet. Now the fun. The only spot open was next to the toliet & the bathtub. I have hidden bottles over there, soaps, etc. So the bottle of bleach was sent to the basement. All the other bottles were sent under the tank of the toliet. It was a really tight fit with the scoop holder attached. After playing with it, I decided to remove the scoop holder all together. So the question about the scoop. I liked it but the one I bought at the kitchen suply store was better. It was to be use to pull fried food out of the grease. But it works great as a pooper scooter. So that was my set up.

The little bell moment about how to pick up the unit came after the first time using it. They designed a nifty handle just behind the top two hings on top. I slip my finger in & my thumb on top of the lid. I was able to pick it up without any problem.

So on set up I'm giving it 4 out of 5 paws. The size of pictures & the color of the paper brought it down.

(Now this is Brownie's Mommy now.) We were lucky enough to have received an email from the Catster HQ asking us to test a Litter Genie. We need one too. Here is my story why.

We got Candie at the beginning of the year. About 5 months later, we had a big problem. She got so upset with Brownie that in the heat of battle she had an accident, both 1s & 2s. I figured out she got so scared to go to the basement where the litter pans were she'd hold it in until she no longer could. Once I picked her up to stop the fight & she peed on me. It was agreed that I need to do something & something fast. We had a tiny litter pan in the garage when the cats got to go outside on the screen porch. So I put it in our tiny bathroom. Problem almost solved. Someone was using it but was peeing down the wall next to the pan. I knew how to fix that too. Got out my heavy duty plastic film. I cut it down to size. I made a curtain that hung into the pan. I attached the top of it to the wall with packing tape. The last problem was keeping the pan clean. I put plastic grocery bags in the tiny trash can to collect the used litter. There the used litter sat open in the trash can until it was trash day. Yuck! Where I tied up the bag & then carried the trash can & all to dump the bag in the trash can. I could never trust the plastic grocery bags to hold up to take them to the trash can by themself. So Candie does all her business in the bathroom pan & Brownie pees in it too. Great, I have seven litter pans in the basement for three cats & only one & half cats are using them.

The USP man brought the box on a Wed. here in St. Louis. I opened it. It came from Petco. We had gotten stuff from Petco.com before. According to the invoice it was ordered on Monday & shipped that day from outside Chicago. I loved the shipping box. It was a really good sturdy box. We will reuse it to ship Christmas presents in a few weeks. The Litter Genie was packaged with really stiff brown kraft paper. What a blessing no shipping peanuts to take to the USP store to recycle. I thought of keeping the kraft paper & reusing it. But I decided to recycle it & out it went into the recycle bin. I looked over the Litter Genie. It had arrived in perfect condition. Of course, I set it up there on the spot. But it is getting late now. That will me a story for another day....

The timeliness, package & shipping of this item from Petco.com, I would give it 5 out of 5 paws!!

I was a good boy, I came out to see all the company on Thanksgiving day. I even sat on the sofa. But now all the company has gone home. After that all my scratching post that were hidden away have returned. We got some real turkey last night too. I loved it but the girls did not eat it. They really like the canned and dry food.

Then today, I saw all the cans of cat food in boxes come into the house. I could not believe how many cans there were. I had to smell them. And on top of all the cans, I could see a bag of treats. I was so excited. Cookie and I got a few. That scared cat girl, Candie did not eat any. So I ate hers too.

I walked around the house and it looks different everyday now. First a chair was moved to the basement. Then one of my scratching post went to the basement too. All my toys were put in a box in the back bedroom. Now the coffee table was moved. I'm having a hard time with that one. I liked to circle the living room every night. That was part of my daily walk, around the table clock wise. I'm not sure if I need to circle the room that wide now that the coffee table was moved. One lap, two laps,..... I think I make my circle smaller without that table. Maybe I get done sooner. Now when is the company is coming? Just remind me so I can hide while they are here. I'll come out after they leave to circle the room. One lap, two laps,.....

We are so upset to see what Hurricane Sandy has done to the East Coast. We hope all of our kitty friends are safe with their Mommies & Daddies. We send out some licks & rubs to our friend to hold them over.